One of the first posts on this blog was about two Allen & Ginter inserts, and last month I blogged about a couple of base cards from earlier in the decade. In the last couple of weeks some more up-to-date base have come through the post, so here are the base cards from the last couple of years, and a bonus.
Card Number 468: Topps Allen & Ginter, 2019; #77
The front is a nice portrait rendered like a painting, as is the Allen & Ginter style. This is obviously adapted from a photo taken in 1999 - it's easy to tell because of the prominent 30th anniversary sleeve patch.
The back is the same quirky / tiresome list of statistics with the numbers written out in full.
It's harder to date the source photo for this card to a particular season, but I'd guess it's around about 1988, based on the brown jacket and Tony's moustache.
The cardback design is slightly less fussy.
Card Number 470: Topps Allen & Ginter Mini, 2020; #128 (A&G back parallel)
And the bonus card! All Allen & Ginter base cards have a 'mini' parallel that's cigarette card sized. Every pack of Allen & Ginter 2020 had one of these parallels in it. And this is a parallel of a parallel because it has a different cardback - these versions were only available at a rate of one in five packs.
The front picture is cropped slightly to fit the new card dimensions.
And this is the back with a big A&G logo on. It looks a lot better than the typical list of statistics.
I've commented before about the links with tobacco companies of yore on modern day cards. I don't need to say anything more about that. But this cardback is so much better than the standard ones, I'm not going to criticise Topps again for it. I have noticed that Topps say they are commemorating the picture cards that came out in 1887, rather than saying the tobacco or cigarette cards. If you didn't know Allen & Ginter were once one of the biggest cigarette companies in the world, then you wouldn't have a problem with it.
(And on that historical note, Allen & Ginter was a comparatively progressive company in its own way. They were the first cigarette rolling company to employ women - although that might have been because they could pay women less than men. They were also innovative, the first American company to try and develop mechanised cigarette rolling. If that had been totally successful, they wouldn't have need so many employees, so maybe that's less laudable.)
I'd like to thank Gawain and Andy M for sourcing and sending me these cards - cheers, chaps!
Total: 470 cards
Love A&G minis. Hope to add that 2020 at some point.
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